Rivera's Mind Made Up, But Won't Reveal Whether He Plans To Retire

Rivera's Mind Made Up, But Won't Reveal Whether He Plans To Retire

"After years of tip-toeing around the issue, Mariano Rivera made his strongest statements yet this will be his final season on the mound.

"I made my decision already," Rivera said in front of his locker at the Yankees' spring training complex yesterday. "But I'm not ready to tell you yet."

The greatest closer in baseball history has shown no signs of slowing down, but he insisted further success on the field would not impact his future, saying he made the call about two or three weeks ago.

"It doesn't depend on anything, I always want to do my job," said Rivera, who was expected to be a late arrival, but ended up getting to Florida on time for the first day of workouts for pitchers and catchers. "Even if I save 90 games, if they want to pay me as much money as they want to, anything [won't matter].""